


Deal of a lifetime

by Jeanemon



Category: Mass Effect
Genre: Gen, James 'oh god why am I here these people are real criminals' Shepard, Jane 'Angry Possum Child' Shepard, John 'Maniac Pixie Dream Boy' Shepard
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-20
Updated: 2016-03-25
Packaged: 2018-05-27 21:08:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,526
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6300487
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jeanemon/pseuds/Jeanemon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Post BAaT the Alliance creates a program giving youth offenders a second chance. Those that complete the program have their records expunged and enter the Alliance with honors. Those that fail will serve the sentence that their crimes are due.</p>
<p>Kaidan Alenko wants to finish this course so he can put the memory of BAaT behind him. James Shepard needs to have his hacking charges cleared before he can enter the Alliance like his Mother. Post-Mindoir Jane Shepard is a ward of the state, a budding young biotic with no where to go. </p>
<p>John Shepard enters the program mostly because he's promised three meals a day and a place to live.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The deal is offered, read, accepted

John didn't like taking jobs against Alliance troops. Maybe it was the last bit of his childhood awe speaking up but they should be untouchable. Morals could take a hit, though, when you'd gone a few days without decent food and knocking off some guy would secure food for more than a day's worth of meals.

The teen chewed on the inside of his mouth to distract from the pain in his gut and the fatigue in his arms, caressing the stock of his borrowed Hammer as he lined up his shot. Patience was the key here, he could wait all night if he needed. It didn't take that long, their intel was good. Frank was his distraction, talking to the mark, saying he had information from the gang to give, the usual. The guy underneath his sights wasn't too old, looking annoyed over whatever shit was falling out of Frank's mouth. Sorry, mister solider. You wouldn't be annoyed much-

_The fucker made him._

The guy stared straight at John and it wasn't a looking through him sort of look, he could see the man's eyes squinting then widening as he realized he was under the scope. Fucking Frank couldn't keep a goddamn face to save his life, must've tipped him off. John instinctively squeezed the trigger, he didn’t take a moment to re-gain his sights, the shot went high but struck the solder in the face and he started running at John.

Fuck this. John slung the rifle over his shoulder and booked it as fast as his legs would take him. Once he was out of his perch (one of Chicago's many condemned buildings, the tourism board loved them) he tore into a crowd hoping to lose the man. It didn't work, whenever he hazarded a glance back the man was still charging after him, bleeding face be damned. He knocked into various people, cutting through the crowd as quickly as he could. And if he knocked a couple people down, well, maybe they'd stop that guy.

John hadn't been aware that the Alliance had goddamn super-solders in their programs but apparently all that shit he heard about gene therapy was right. Who the hell shrugged off a bullet to the face? And, shit, Robbie was going to kill him but the dropped the Hammer to free himself of the weight. He'd make it up to Robbie, he'd get the cash to get another one somehow. It wasn't like John could repay him if he was dead, so it was pretty logical to drop the rifle.

And, shit, the guy was gaining on him. How the hell, he was smaller and fast, he'd always been too fast for his legs. Shit, though, he was tired. His legs were screaming in protest as he turned and booked it down an alley. He could hear the scrape of the guy's boots on crumbling pavement, his growling gravely voice as he spoke to someone over a communicator. Then a grunt of exertion and the man sprang forward, tackling John about the waist and pulling him to the ground.

The teen landed badly, yelping as he felt and heard his arm snap under the weight of both of them. “Get off of me, you fucker, shit-” John growled through gritted teeth, choking down nausea as he tried to elbow the man off of him. The guy had him good, pinning John beneath one knee as he dragged both arms behind the teen's back to zip-strip them together. He felt the bones in his forearm shift and if there'd been anything in his stomach it would've been on the ground from the reflexive heaving it caused.

The Alliance guy was talking into his omni-tool but that was easy to ignore in favor of how badly he hurt. And, shit, he was so fucking tired. Not tired enough to give up, there was still the will to live. But he was so tired of this shit, man. His thoughts were interrupted by the guy kicking him over with a boot.

“Shit. This kid's like, twelve.” The guy growled. John screwed up his face and glared as best he could through the tears in his eyes and the dirt on his face.

“I'm fourteen, asshole.” He countered. 

The man rolled his eyes back into his head and silently mimicked John. He cast a critical eye over the sickly-looking teen. Half of his mouth perked up in a smirk and there was something in his eyes that looked like a begrudging respect. Or, more likely, it was a sadistic glare since John had shot him in the fucking face and now the old shit had John under his boot. “There's a Burger Barn a block over from where I'm at now. Meet me there for pickup in twenty minutes.” Whomever the old man was taking to over his comm started squawking and was ignored. “Hackett out.”

The guy, Hackett, squatted down by John. “You,” He said, tapping his Omni-tool, “look like you could use some medi-gel and a burger. When's the last time you ate, kid?”

This wasn't good. Whatever this Hackett wanted it wasn't going to be good for him. But his arm ached, his stomach twisted, and that little voice in his head that screamed for survival quieted. “...Uh, three days? Um. Sir.”

Hackett snorted softly, snipping the zip-strip apart. “Three days, sir.” He echoed. “Hold on, this is gonna hurt.” And that was all the warning he got before the guy snapped his arm back into place. John heaved again, bile creeping up his throat. The pain was soothed by an application of medi-gel, and a way fucking better grade than he'd ever had before. Then Hackett actually slipped that alliance jacket off of his shoulders and made a makeshift sling to wrap around John's torso, tucking the arm inside. “Medi-gel won't heal that perfect, don't move it till we can get you to an actual doctor. C'mon. Shitty burger time, kid.”

In a daze, John docilely followed after Hackett for the two blocks to Burger Barn. He remained silent when the old guy ignored the gawking people in the restaurant, ordering and picking up the food without a glance at anyone else. Hackett tucked them into a booth and pushed the tray of food at John, taking a small basket of fries for himself. Then, and only then, did he queue up a shot of medi-gel for his own face.

“What the fuck,” John mumbled, unwrapping a burger and shoving a huge bite into his mouth. It was the best damn thing he'd ever tasted after the three day fast. Hell, before that it'd just been something he'd pulled out of a dumpster behind Cox-co. “You a fucking terminator or something?”

Hackett snorted at him. “No, just trained and fed. That makes a difference, kid.” He motioned for John to keep eating. “Tenth Street Reds, right? If they took on a hit to kill me I gotta be doing something right, at least. So. You happy with the Reds, kid?”

John slowly chewed the burger, just barely managing to swallow before replying. “It's better than not being with the Reds.” He'd eaten even less, then, and he'd had to be entirely on his own for everything. At least some of the guys would let him crash in the Red's various buildings. Being able to sleep without the fear of getting killed for his shoes did wonders for his mood.

His burger was finished in a few more bites and Hackett pushed the second one at him. “Doesn't sound like you're committed. In that case, I've got a deal for you. Alliance is starting up a juvie program. You go to it, you pass it, and you go into the Alliance Military with not only a record so clean you can eat off it, but I'll throw in a personal recommendation.”

Despite wanting to unwrap the second burger and eat it just as greedily as the first John resisted, frowning. “You think I'm stupid?” He challenged, curling his free hand into a fist. “I shot you in the fucking face and you think I'm going to believe that you're, what, recruiting me?”

“You shot me in the face. That's pretty impressive. Eat your burger, kid.” Hackett waited until John had started on the burger before he continued. “I don't know your history. What I know is that you look a few days from keeling over and you made me work to catch you.”

John must have looked unconvinced because Hackett rolled his eyes again. “Kid. Three meals a day, room, board, and education.” John stuffed the last bit of burger in his mouth before slowly looking up at Hackett. The old man grinned. He knew he'd gotten his way.

“Juvie sounds awesome.” John mumbled through his full mouth. 

“Commander Hackett, Alliance Navy.” The old man introduced himself properly, holding out a hand. John stared at him for a long minute as his brain put together all those stories he'd heard about the infamous man's exploits in the Contact War and after.

“John Shepard. Can I add 'I shot Commander Hackett in the face' to my name because that's probably the most important thing I'll ever do.”

Hackett actually laughed at that. “Absolutely not, you little shit.”

 * * * 

Brain camp stuck with Kaidan long after he came home from the Alliance project. In the weeks and months that followed he found himself waking up from dreams orchestrated with Rahna's screams. Sometimes he fancied that he could still feel the snap of Vyrnnus' neck traveling up his shin. And it didn't matter how many psychiatrists he talked to, how many prescriptions he got, the nightmares didn't stop.

The shame that hung over his head even a year after the incident was palpable. Kaidan had always assumed he'd go into the Alliance like his Father and with such an excellent reference on his record of 'killed a turian biotic teacher and nearly caused an inter-species diplomatic event' who knew why the alliance wasn't knocking down his door?

At least merc groups could always use another biotic, half trained or not. Career paths otherwise were somewhat limited. He could, of course, go into a non-military career but the public opinion was generally against biotics in that aspect. No one wanted their nurse or councilor to have the ability to throw them into walls when they got pissed off.

Kaidan moodily sank down farther into his sweater and his chair, fingers caressing the bottle of beer in hand. As always the view over the porch rails was fantastic, Vancouver at any time was beautiful. It was going entirely unappreciated that day, though. Inside the house, past the open door, Dad was on the phone with someone. He'd started out the call cheerfully, talking with some old alliance friend of his. Then he'd went silent, listening intently.

“I'll talk to him. Thanks for the info, Hannah. Hopefully James benefits from it as well.” Dad pushed his chair back from his desk as he ended the vid call. He took a moment to grab his data pad and bring up his mail, opening Hannah's promised mail as he moved onto the porch to sink into another chair beside Kaidan. When Kaidan looked over, Dad handed the data pad over. “This is the deal of a lifetime, Kaidan.”

Kaidan scrolled through the mail indifferently at first, then with increased interest. It was another youth program in the alliance, sort of a last chance for youth offenders. Those that qualified for and passed the program would have their records fully expunged and be passed into the alliance with honors. Kaidan's finger trailed over the word 'expunged', the idea that BAaT wouldn't be hanging over him at every corner was a euphoric one.

“Hannah said they're outsourcing to the Asari for Biotics.” Dad said, reaching over and stealing Kaidan's beer. The young man didn't notice it was gone. “And it won't be like.... Before. They're strict but we'll be in contact. You won't be going at this alone.”

“Mom won't like it.” Kaidan handed the data pad back to Dad.

The older man rolled his eyes, leaning back into the chair and looking out at the horizon. “Your mom will like whatever you want. We just want you to be happy. To be able to put that place behind you. Being able to wipe that off your record... That might help a lot.”

“Yeah.”

Kaidan was right about his mother, when she got home from work and they approached her with the idea she shut them down immediately. “You want me to hand him back over to the Alliance, Adan? After how he came back last time? Half starved, nearly out of his mind? I read those reports, you did too!” She turned to Kaidan and he cold see the worry and fear in her eyes, raging war with protective anger. “How can you want to go back?”

Kaidan gripped his fists at his sides, checking his breathing and focusing on control. “I wake up, every night.” He growled, voice cracking despite his effort. “And I'm back in BAaT. Sometimes the dreams feel more real than my bed. It ruined my life.”

She moved to comfort him, slipping a hand through his hair and cradling the back of his head. “I know, I'm so sorry. We should've done something-”

“What could you have done?” Kaidan asked, shaking his head. “But this... Mama. Fully expunged records. Maybe if I don't have to worry about this following me around everywhere for the rest of my life... Maybe I'll stop waking up at night.”

She went silent and Dad ran a hand up her free arm. “But it's juvie.” She protested quietly. “What happened isn't your fault, but we're sending you to prison with God only knows who.”

“Remember Hannah Shepard? Her boy's about Kaidan's age. She's the one who forwarded the information. James got into some trouble nosing around in secure databases. It's not for hardcore criminals, hon. It's a chance for kids to prove they're not just their mistakes.” Dad gave Kaidan's shoulder a squeeze. “It's the deal of a lifetime.”

JREP was different from BAaT from the beginning. After his parents had filled out everything they'd been flown to Arcturus station for a quick tour before Kaidan would attend. Since the program was entirely voluntary as well as only offered to youths with acceptable psychological profiles it wasn't as bad as anyone had expected.

“You'll be boarding with one male in your room, matched to have a complimentary psych profile.” The Lieutenant escorting him around the base explained. “You'll have a group therapy class as well as proper individual care. There's general education classes in a group and anything you test out of will be augmented with online VI taught classes. We want you to succeed as much as you can.”

Mom was busy giving everything they walked past a stern look. Nothing was to be trusted after what happened at BAaT. “What about his Biotics?” She asked agressivley.

“Obviously some of his physical training classes will be dropped for the Biotics.” The LT explained. “We've received an Asari commando to teach what she knows.” He turned his gaze to Kaidan, giving a little reassuring smile. “I don't know why you're enrolling in the program, don't know what brought you here. But if you keep your nose clean and show them whatever happened was a one time thing you'll make it out fine.”

“Yeah.” Kaidan mumbled, looking down one long hallway. Everything was clean and chrome, well lit. There was none of the depressing, ill kept feel that BAaT had given off. “Looks like I'll be joining the Alliance a little early.

* * * 

“This is _bullshit_ -”

“Language.” Hannah Shepard snapped, her gray eyes fiercely staring ahead of her as they marched through the halls of the Alliance's juvenile re-education program. As always James' mother was the picture of Alliance perfection: immaculate uniform and hair, her stride was strong and purposeful. The only thing out of regulation was her teenage son following behind her.

“Mom, this is a program for screw-ups.”

Hannah turned to stare him down. Even though he was inches taller than his mother now her gaze made him shrink. “And what do you call someone who hacks into a secure alliance database and then tries to use the excuse 'If they didn't want me to hack it they shouldn't have made it so easy'?”

James looked at her for a moment before dropping his gaze to the floor. “...A screw-up.”

“A screw-up, what?” Hannah turned and continued down the hallway.

“A screw-up, Ma'am.”

“Better.” Hannah lead him into a small room labeled 'processing'. James couldn't help but scowl at the sign. “You're a non-violent offender so that'll work for you. As long as you complete this program your records will be expunged and you'll be able to start your alliance career free and clear.” James gave a non-committal grunt. “Do you think I want to see you here? You're almost eighteen, James. You're damn lucky they're not charging you as an adult and throwing you away.”

“Whatever.”

Hannah sighed and started signing paperwork, passing it to him when she was done. “I hope this straightens you out since you don't seem to give a shit about what I say anymore.”

James gave a titanic eye roll at that. “Man I can't imagine what that feels like.” He said as sarcastically as his teenage self could manage. Hannah didn't reply to that, she just continued filling out paperwork. The desk jockey handing her the forms gave her a sympathetic look.

Her. Like James didn't deserve any sort of sympathy for always having to live up to the ideal Alliance standard. Knowing that every success in his life was expected because he was his Mother's son. Maybe he wouldn't have gotten so interested in hacking if Mom had been able to make it home and have dinner with him once and a while. But, no. Her career was way more important than him.

As James scowled towards the door and mechanically co-signed the paperwork that his mother passed over another teen entered Processing. A decently tall girl, but the redhead was rail thin. She followed after a dark skinned Alliance officer with near-military grade steps herself. The Alliance officer took the time to explain every piece of paper to her before she signed.

She also caught James staring and, while making direct eye contact, literally snarled at him like an animal. James turned quickly away and stared at his own paperwork. “S'what I thought.” The girl growled.

Hannah looked over at the snarling girl, a surprised smile crossing her face as she saw the man with her. “Anderson.”

“Always a pleasure, Hannah.” Anderson replied, a smile warming his previously solemn face. “When I have a moment we should catch up.”

“Of course.” Hannah was eying the girl with him then, and the girl was staring back just as hard as she'd stared down James. “And this is-”

“None of your business, Alliance.” The girl spat out, signing her papers. “I want copies of these.” She snarled at Anderson. The man didn't look even slightly ruffled. He had an air of perpetual calm about him.

“They'll be in your file.” He assured her. The girl didn't look even slightly reassured.

Hannah waited until Anderson was done walking the girl through her paperwork to speak with him a few minutes, leaving James alone with the girl. He leaned back in his chair and warranted another look at her. She was still staring holes into him. “So...” He started, giving his best winning smile at her. “What are you in for?”

“My colony got razed by batarian pirates and my whole family's dead. I'm a ward of the state.” She spat out bitterly. “Why? What's your damage, convict?”

“...Hacking an alliance database.” James mumbled, staring straight ahead.

The girl gave a slow clap. “Wow.” She drew the word out longer than necessary. “That's impressive. Don't talk to me.”

James was all too happy to comply with that order. 

* * * * 

Twenty six days before Jane found herself at JREP the colony of Mindoir had been targeted by Batarians. What hadn't been razed to the ground had been taken away one way or another. Jane had long ago decided that it showed what a sadistic bastard their Maker was, since all her life her Daddy had bitched about the useless Alliance and now she was sitting in one of their little training facilities.

She supposed there were worse things in life, like being a a slave to the Batarians or being a chunk of charred meat in the homestead. Yeah. There was a smell she'd never be able to get out of her nose. It'd been real decent of that Andersen guy to agree to her request of food without meat in it. Jane was pretty sure she'd never be able to eat it again without remembering that stench, Mama's scream when those bastards lit her up.

What was left of her body a week later had still been cradled around a little charred lump. Mama'd been good at being a Mama, of course she'd try to shield Suze. The Marines that pulled her out of the crawlspace had tried to hide that from her but Jane had pushed past them. She needed to see with her own eyes that they were dead and they weren't coming back.

Daddy'd always called her practical. His down to Mindoir girl. She'd looked at those burnt chunks, counted them one by one. Mama, Daddy, Ethan, Samuel, and Susan. All five accounted for. She'd been thankful for that, the Alliance guys probably thought she was cracked when she smiled. They were all dead and not in the hands of Batarians. She didn't have to worry about that.

Jane supposed she was cracked, though. What happened on that little farmstead had showed her just how cruel the universe was. She didn't tell herself the bullshit things like 'If I was strong I could've saved them' because, shit, she was sixteen and as strong as she could be. Daddy'd been stronger, tall as could be and broad as a barn. That hadn't saved him from the fire.

Only thing that'd saved her was him, pushing her and telling her to hide. By some grace they hadn't found her, likely due to some shielding from the material of the house. Waste not, want not; it'd been made from parts of the ship that had originally populated their colony. 

When the Alliance ran their initial test on her they'd been a little flustered, saying she was a 'biotic', whatever that was. They'd showed her videos of people picking up things with their mind, or throwing things. Or hurting things. Jane had liked that part best. Being able to hurt someone just with your mind. She liked the sound of that. 

When it'd been clear that there was no one for Jane, no family and no friends surviving, they'd declared her a ward of the state. She'd been given the, apparently, usual set of gene therapy to fix minor problems and outfitted with a biotic implant. In the days that followed the surgery and preceded her entrance to JREP she'd run her fingers along the new scar. They'd said she might not be as powerful since the implant was a few years late. Well. Jane had always been an overachiever.

Her thoughts were interrupted when someone opened the door to her room. Ah, that'd be her roommate. Jane remained on her bed, arms folded over her stomach, and waited to see what she got. If that wimp in the processing office was anything to go by this group would be easy to deal with. All she'd done was stand her ground and he tucked his tail between his legs.

The girl that entered had a swagger to her step, she was pretty and unconcerned and Jane hated her from the get go. She strode over to Jane's bed and the two stared at each other eye to eye, daring the other to blink first. “You're in my spot. Get up.” The girl ordered.

Jane grinned, feeling a chill of adrenaline course through her as all of those lovely eezo nodes in her body lit up. Not a show of force, just a little reassurance to herself. “Make me.” She challenged quietly. The girl grabbed her hair, her hair, like that would fucking do anything, punched her once in the jaw, and Jane rolled off the bed and into the fight.

She had the girl on the ground, punching her repeatedly in the face before security rushed in to stop them. It felt good to make the girl hurt, to see her nose snap, blood dripping down her face. And it was so easy to tap into the grief from the loss of everything she'd ever known to start sobbing. “She attacked me! I wasn't doing anything! Why would you put her in my room?!”

The feed from the room agreed with Jane's story and, with some sobbing and some bait, Jane got her first roommate removed from the JREP program. It was a thrilling thought, that girl had probably been there because this was her last chance, not because the Alliance was making use of the biotic training and therapists to treat a troubled young girl who'd lost everything.

They were going to teach her how to kill with her mind, and on her first day she'd gotten blood all over her uniform and ruined someone else's last chance. Jane was pretty happy with JREP.

* * * * 

To say that Kaidan was nervous about who would be his roommate was speaking lightly. He'd hoped to be the first one in the room so he could get the lay of the land so to speak, but upon entering he found a young man rifling through drawers. The kid (he couldn't be much older than thirteen) looked over his shoulder and grinned at Kaidan.

“You're my roommate?” He asked, plowing on as soon as Kaidan nodded. “Your stuff's on that bed there. This side's mine since everything is like, alliance regs and stuff. S'nice, didn't come with anything so they gave me stuff.” The boy turned and bounced lightly on his plain shoes. Everything he wore was new, clean, and utterly bland. It was likely alliance standard clothes, mass produced for multiple situations. He held out his free hand, the other arm was tucked up into a sling. “John Shepard.”

“Kaidan Alenko.” Kaiden couldn't help but grin back at the kid, he seemed to ooze positivity and excitement. He couldn't imagine what the kid had done to wind up here. Maybe he was a ward of the state, Dad had said that a few were entering this program as well to jump start their careers. Maybe he was a biotic?

They exchanged the usual pleasantries, finding out where the other was from, general little questions. John was from Chicago, picked up for gang related activity. He seemed fascinated by the very idea of Vancouver, asking Kaidan question after question about it. John didn't shy away from questions about his past, but the cheerful way that he said his answers made Kaidan think the kid was lying to make himself look more tough.

The bell for lunch rang and John was first out the door, looking back and calling to Kaidan. Under the watchful eye of various guards the juvenile offenders all moved to the lunchroom, got their lunch trays and sat down. John beamed at his plate, tearing into the bland but nutritional food.

“Man, this is awesome.” John said happily to the amusement of their lunch table. “I should've shot an Alliance solider in the face earlier!”

Silence fell as everyone stared at the cheerful young man who, for his part, didn't notice the change in mood. From the way the guys at the table looked between each other it wasn't sure if they could believe the kid. “Uh, John? You shot someone in the face?”

“Uh-huh.” John said between bites of his... nutrient bread stuff. Kaidan didn't know what it was. “Had a hit to do for the Reds. Shoot this Alliance guy. He marked me, I shot him in the face instead of the heart, he chased me six blocks bleeding from his face and broke my arm.” John nodded to his sling. “Hey, trade you my milk for your fruit cup?”

Kaidan made the trade, he had more high calorie things on his plate that John did and the boy looked like he needed every calorie he could get. “So you didn't kill someone?”

John popped open the fruit cup and slurped the juice inside as he looked about himself suspiciously. “Hey. I know my rights. I can't incriminate myself.”

“Oh my God.” An older boy moaned down the table. “I just hacked a database why am I at the murder table.”

Well. It looked like when the Alliance said 'Similar Psych Profile' they meant 'Let's stick the kids who killed people together'. Awesome. If Mom was right about this place she'd never let him live it down.


	2. Chapter 2

Two days into JREP was the start of biotics classes. Their little Alpha group consisted of twenty biotics. He knew that most belonged to JREP proper, but a few were there for strictly biotic training. He recognized a few faces from BAaT, those people went still when they saw him and looked the other way.

Yeah. Still the monster. Kaidan frowned and looked to the ground, rubbing his forearm across his head. He stood awkwardly by himself and waited for their instructor, quietly hoping that whomever it was wouldn’t be the type of monster they'd dealt with previously.

Their instructor entered crisply, flanked by a pair of humans that she was trying to shake off. “Listen,” The Asari growled in a tone that reminded Kaidan of a serial chain smoker, “I've been doing this whole biotic thing for a thousand years. I get it, you're nervous. So just let me do what I'm paid to do, take your notes, and get out of my way.”

From that point their instructor ignored the Alliance officers, who settled near the door with their data pads out as she walked to the center of the room. “All right, here we go.” She murmured to herself before addressing the class with a clear, strong voice. “I'm Matriarch Aethyta. I could wax all poetic about how you're the future of your race, the start of this whole Alliance biotic project, but.... I'm not that kind of person. All I'm gonna say is that however you were taught before ain't going to be how you're taught now.”

Kaidan could swear she'd looked at him when she said that. “I'm paring those with more training up with those with less training. All I want you to do today is biotically pass these balls back and forth. Increase your distance however you feel comfortable, what we're working on is accuracy and stamina here.”

“Barnes, you're with Yenova. Clarkson, you're with Donnely. Alenko, Shepard.” The Matriarch continued calling out names as Kaidan scanned the class. It didn't help that he was paired up with someone he didn't know. As the students started pairing up a girl strode up to him, mouth set in a firm line. She superficially reminded him of Rahna from a distance, his throat tightened up at the memory. But when she strode closer that comparison was gone. Both were dark skinned, slender girls. There was no kindness or gentleness in this girl's eyes, just fire.

“Alenko?” She questioned gruffly, stopping when he nodded. “Shepard. Obviously. I've only had my implant a month. Apologies if I just like... Blow shit up.”

“Heh. I appreciate the honesty.” Kaidan scooped up one of the practice balls, gently pushing it up into the air with a flair of biotics. Shepard was focused on his hands, the reflection from his push shining in her eyes. He put the ball in her hands, leaving his own on top still. “We'll start slow. Just give a little tap. Focus on your amp.”

Shepard focused and flared, Kaidan saved from injury only from his own biotics pushing down. Mouth twisting into a frown, Shepard dropped her arms and the ball fell to the ground. “Shit.” She hissed, looking enraged at everything.

Kaidan rotated his shoulder and pulled the ball back into his hands. “Hey, not bad. Too strong. Light yourself up like that but just give it a tap. We're not trying to crush it or send it into the ceiling.”

“What, treat it like I'm playing volley ball with my mind?” Shepard asked sarcastically, but she took the ball and made a much more gently movement and a much more gentle push. Her severe frown curled into a slight smile when Kaidan just as gently battled it back towards her.

“Just like that. Perfect. Caught right on, Shepard.” He stayed like that for perhaps ten minutes, hands barely away from the ball and the pushes light as a feather. “Let's take a step back. Still, light pushes. If thinking volley ball helps, keep thinking volley ball.”

Shepard actually laughed at that. She took a cautious step back and did the initial toss, that one went way over Kaidan's head. Before she could scowl or rage Kaidan plucked it out of the air and gave it a gentle toss up into the air then back to her. “You make this look easy.”

“I've had training.” He shrugged. Shepard spiked it again, lower than last time but still too high. It took more practice before they were reliably passing the ball back and forth. Whenever she seemed to relax Kaidan pushed her just another step backwards. The more they practiced the easier she realized the difference in force needed.

“Quite the teacher, Mister Alenko.” Matriarch Aethyta drawled as she walked past. “Getting better, Shepard. Take a break, both of you, grab some juice.”

Chagrined, Kaidan realized he'd been so into the simple exercise that he hadn't noticed Shepard's arms starting to shake. “Ma'am.” He nodded and took the ball from Shepard, leaving it on the floor to mark their spot before escorting Jane off the training field. There was a small recovery room that came off the training room complete with cushioned booths and a well stocked fridge. Kaidan grabbed a juice from the fridge, a protein bar from the counter, and sat in one of the booths. Shepard followed his lead and sat heavily across from him, sighing.

“Why do I hurt so bad?” She asked as she wolfed down the bar. Kaidan ate his in slower, measured bites. “And I'm starved.”

“Biotics use a lot of calories. That's why we get more food and higher calorie stuff at lunch.” He explained. Shepard nodded, color returning to her cheeks as she sipped her juice. “You're doing really well, Shepard. You catch on quick.”

A grin stole across Shepard's serious face as she leaned her elbows on the table. “Well, Mister Alenko, I've got quite the tutor.” She purred, that grin wicked. Kaidan flushed at the sudden intense attention. “And you can call me Jane.”

“Kaidan. And, uh, hey. If I can help I'll gladly do it.” If anything good could come from his time at BAaT he'd take it. “Finish your juice and meet me back out there. We'll pick it up again until class is over.”

By the end of the session they were five feet from each other, passing the ball back with only the rare power issue from Jane. After Aethyta had released them Kaidan stayed behind to help pick up the dropped balls that scattered the room. “You did good today, Kid.” Aethyta said, grabbing one of the balls from a few feet away and lazily tossing it at the bin. “Didn't even put one hole in the ceiling.”

Kaidan followed her gaze and, yeah, there were ball sized holes in the ceiling. “Uh. Well. I know a thing or two about control.”

“Yeah. I read your file.” Kaidan tensed, lightly bouncing the ball he'd picked up. “That was some nasty shit to deal with.” The Matriarch reached over and messed his hair up. “You pulled through, though. Good job today.” She reiterated. “I'll finish clean up. Get out.”

Kaidan didn't have to be told twice.

****

Their first group therapy session was four days after the start of JREP. Kaidan's group had seven in it: Himself, Amy and Jane from his Biotics group, two guys he didn't know, John, and James Shepard. Since Kaidan's own dad was Alliance he knew James by reputation. Good family, brilliant with tech, moody and sullen as any teenager could be. Judging by how James' arms were crossed over his chest that part of the gossip chain hadn't been wrong.

Their councilor entered, a sweet faced woman not too much older than they were. Mid twenties, max. Civilian. She sat down in the last free chair, the one between Kaidan and James. “Hello, everyone. I'm Mary Evans, I'm going to be your councilor for these sessions. Today's session we're not going to go into anything deep. I'd just like everyone to introduce themselves, tell why they're here, a little about themselves. Whatever you feel like sharing.”

James rolled his eyes so far back in his head that Kaidan was pretty sure that they were going to get stuck back there. “Oh, I'm first?” He groused when Mary turned to him. “Fine. James Shepard. I'm here because I got caught hacking into secure Alliance databases. And that's all I feel like sharing.”

“And that's fine.” Mary assured him, turning to Amy.

“Aaaah.... Amy Marie is fine. I'm here for dealing.” She had a nervous tic, jiggling her knee. “Batch I got in was contaminated. Four people died, including my best friend.”

“Jane Shepard.” The dark haired redhead leaned back in her chair. “I'm a ward of the state after Mindoir ate shit. Since I'm a biotic they sent me here for training. I'm kind of enjoying being the only not-criminal here. Feels nice.” That was aimed entirely at James, who managed a glare at her.

The other two guys introduced themselves, Kaidan wasn't paying too much attention to their names as much as their mannerisms. The first guy was leering at Jane, and it was easy to see that his 'I got into some trouble with the cops' probably had something to do with treatment of women. Jane met his gaze and grinned at him. She'd eat him alive given the chance.

“Oh! Hah, I'm the third Shepard. John! I'm from Earth, Chicago. Aaaah.... I'm a member of the Tenth Street Reds, I came here because I shot an Alliance officer in the face! This is probably the nicest place I've ever stayed.” He confided, grin wide as he turned to Kaidan.

“Kaidan Alenko. I, ah... I was at Jump Zero.” That was all he felt comfortable with saying, looking to Mary for approval. She just smiled and nodded. “And, well. I suppose I'm here for the same reasons most of us are. A clean slate. Fresh start.”

The room was awkwardly quiet for a moment since the therapist's directions had been followed but no further instruction had been given. After a time the second guy, Erik or something, leaned forward and looked between John, Jane, and James. “So, Shepard? You all related or something?”

“Yeah, dumbass.” Jane said, jerking her head towards James roughly. “We're twins, can't you see the resemblance?” The two of them couldn't be less similar if they tried, blonde versus red, pale and unblemished versus tanned and freckled.

John leaned back in his chair and smiled brightly at Erik. “I'm the pretty sibling.” He said, that grin blindingly bright. “Nah. I'm not even a real Shepard. Saw the name on some general on the vids. Thought it sounded nice, so I took it.”

The sour look on James' face was more prominent at that. “My mother.” Not wanting to elaborate on the subject anymore he looked towards Jane.

“My dad was a shepherd. We had sheep.” If Jane had rolled her eyes any harder she would've fallen out of her chair. “So, no. We're not related. At all.” She paused for just a beat before finishing with: “Dumbass.”

After group therapy was done John slid up to Jane as they walked out. “You know he's going to start shit, right.” He asked, looking up at her with that bright grin on his face. But Jane could see that smile didn't come close to reaching his eyes.

“I'm not stupid, Johnny.” She affectionately ruffled his stupid choppy hair. “You wanna hit him first?”

The grin was blazing. “Oh, I thought I'd offer some help Janey.”

* * *

Though Johnny and his wild stories were frequently discounted, the one that everyone believed was that John was in there for murder. Sometimes it was hard to equate that thought with the smiling, sunny boy that sat in their dorm with Kaidan and scribbled on his TapChat omni-tool app. John was obsessed with TapChat, having downloaded it as soon as his Alliance-issued Omni-tool had been jail-broken. It never failed that when Kaidan was having a bad day there'd be a stupid little scribbled TapChat waiting for him after class.

The first time he ever saw John snap put into perspective for the fist time how Rahna must have felt seeing him do the same thing. They'd been at lunch and the large guy from their group therapy, the huge one that James had derisively nicknamed 'Lurch', walked up to John and grabbed him by the shoulder. John tensed, gripping the table and turning his head slightly.

“Hey, Lurchy. How's it going?” The boy asked cheerfully, but Kaidan had seen this eyes go dark. He was a coiled spring, just waiting for something to let him go.

Instead of responding Lurch just pulled him back out of his chair and tossed him into the other table. Someone nearby shrieked about a fight, kids pulled back into a circle. Kaidan was torn between wading in to protect his friend and saying back to protect himself. If it looked bad he'd throw a singularity, or a barrier, or-

John snarled and dove into Lurch's middle, catching the larger guy off guard. All he'd needed was a brief moment of opportunity to turn the fight to his side. Perhaps Lurch hadn't expected John to fight back because he didn't seem prepared at all for the sudden barrage of fists that landed on him. Lurch managed to flip John off him just once, growling as he knocked John back with a solid punch to the jaw. Kaidan's heart was in his throat as John's head snapped back, but after a few stumbled paces back the boy seemed fine.

In fact, the blow just seemed to make him more crazed. When he got back in close quarters with Lurch John dove at him, teeth tearing into the guy's arm. “What the fuck.” Kaidan heard a flat voice tone in from behind him. James, poor, down to Earth James, was just sitting and watching the fight. James stared at John then looked up at Kaidan. “What.”

By the time guards broke up the fight Lurch was actually sobbing, missing more than a few chunks. John stood triumphant and bloody, eyes shining and his grin wide. He made no motion to fight the guards, just went with them smiling at everyone.

Kaidan hadn't expected for the boy to return to their shared dorm but after lights out he was escorted back. Scrubbed clean and twitchy John just walked to his bed, grabbed his blankets off the top, and crawled underneath. “...You okay?” He asked after a few moments of total silence.

“No.” Came the mumbled response from under the bed. “But thanks for asking.”

Before Kaidan could fall asleep he heard muffled sobs come from under the bed followed by gagging. John crawled out from under the bed and scampered to their lavatory. Kaidan sat up and awkwardly listened to John choke and dry heave in the bathroom before he stood. John didn't notice when he entered their small lavatory, nor did he react when Kaidan wet a washcloth. Only when the washcloth was plopped on the back of his neck did John jerk.

“Hey. Just me.” Kaidan murmured, seeing John's wide eyes in the low light. “It's.. It's all right, John.” He pulled from what he knew, how Mom had treated him post BAaT nightmares. Coolness to the back of the neck, gentle pats on the back. John shuddered under his hand, head slowly coming down to rest on the bowl of the toilet.

“Don't like getting hit.” John mumbled, clinging to the toilet like it was his lone anchor. “So I hit back harder. Maybe it'll stop then.”

Kaidan would remember that night a lot in the following days as people pulled from John and watched him with wary eyes.

**Author's Note:**

> This started out as a joke between myself and a workmate and it spiraled out of control from there. First it was like "'Oh, hah hah, juvie AU' Kaidan being all like 'The commander and I knew each other in a youth program' and Shepard sticking his head around the doorway and being like "Kaidan it was Juvie it wasn't a youth program we almost went to jail". From there it went on to be "The other backstories are also there, they're just not the Shepard" to "Maniac Pixie Dream Boy Shepard, Angry Hissing Possum Child Shepard, and Holy Shit I Fucked Up Shepard."


End file.
